Mutagenic activation of 2-aminofluorene by fluorescent light.

To determine the effect of artificially produced light on the direct mutagenicity of 2-aminofluorene, that arylamine was irradiated with either sun, cool-white, black, blue, or yellow fluorescent light or held in the dark prior to assaying for mutagenicity using Salmonella typhimurium strain TA98. The effectiveness of these exposures in potentiating the mutagenicity of 2-aminofluorene was sun greater than black greater than cool-white greater than blue greater than yellow approximately equal to dark. By varying the radiant flux densities produced by the lamps and using optical filters, wavelengths of light up to approximately 450 nm were found to be effective in the mutagenic potentiation. Studies using radical scavengers and oxygen modifiers indicated that the light-induced mutagenicity was dependent on oxygen and that singlet oxygen may be an effective activator of 2-aminofluorene. The mutagenicity of fluorene was not increased by exposure to light, while only sunlight potentiated the mutagenicity of 2-acetylaminofluorene. This result suggested the importance of the primary amine in the mutagenic activation of 2-aminofluorene by light. Light-activated 2-aminofluorene was less mutagenic in strains TA98NR and TA98/1,8-DNP6 than in TA98. This observation, combined with the dependence of the photoactivation on oxygen and amino-substitution, indicated that the light-enhanced mutagenicity was at least partially due to N-oxidized photoproducts. These studies indicate that the effect of light on environmental contaminants must be considered in assessing their genotoxic potential.